October 27, 2010

Professor-author nun to speak on ‘The Concept of Woman in Relation to Man’

By Denver Catholic Register

The public is invited to a free public lecture by professor-author Sister Prudence Allen, R.S.M., on Western philosophers’ thoughts on sex and gender identity.

The lecture is set for 7 p.m. Nov. 4 in Bonfils Hall at the John Paul II Center, 1300 S. Steele St. in Denver.

The Religious Sister of Mercy teaches at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver. The talk is the final presentation in the school’s annual Cardinal Stafford Lecture Series and is the only one open to the public.

Sister Allen is the author of a two-volume work, “The Concept of Woman,” which explores women’s identity. Laboring on a third volume that will complete the series, Sister Allen’s lecture, “The Concept of Woman in Relation to Man 1500-2000,” will share some of the key turning points in modern and contemporary thought about this important topic.

“In this lecture I will trace the dramatic developments in the concept of woman mainly during the timeframe of 1500 to the present,” Sister Allen said. “We will discover how powerfully the Catholic Church has promoted and defended the full development of women through the centuries, particular with respect to their great dignity and equal worth with men, and at the same time the roots of their significant differentiation.

“Catholic philosophy,” she added, “has been foundational in this development especially from its early 20th-century roots in the work of Dietrich von Hildebrand, Bernard Lonergan, Edith Stein, Jacques and Raissa Maritain, and others including our late Holy Father John Paul II. I will try to trace the significant discoveries that each of these Catholic authors contributed to the contemporary dialogue about woman’s true identity and contrast them with some of the distortions defended by others today.”

The lecture includes research from Sister Allen’s upcoming book, “The Concept of Woman 1500-2010: Search for the Communion of Persons,” which is scheduled to be published after December 2012.
Sister Allen’s talk is co-sponsored by the seminary and ENDOW (Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Woman), a Catholic nonprofit group dedicated to teaching the “new feminism” of Pope John Paul II. The talk with conclude with a question and answer discussion. For more information, contact the Office of the Academic Dean at 303-282-3448 or e-mail kathleen. oshea@archden.org.